It’s perfect.’ I looked up at what I could see in the dark. Some trees invite you to climb them, like their branches are perfectly laid out like a...ladder. This was not one of them. The lowest branch was at least nine foot off the floor. ‘You climbed this alone,’ I flatly remarked. ‘Yes.’ ‘How.’ ‘Trying like five times, kicking off the trunk. Come on, give me a boost, and I’ll help you up.’ ‘Vi.’ ‘Gimme boost.’ She grabbed my shoulders, already lifting a foot off the floor. I obliged and she. ”She laughed softly, ”Thanks honey but I’m getting pretty old…and ugly”“Mom, shut up, guys would kill over you, which is really bothering me because you still haven’t brought a guy home since dad?” I asked questioningly“All I need is you baby, and you’re growing into quite the young man yourself” she reached back and shook my thigh.“Thanks mom, but I can tell you get lonely” I said quietly. It took her a while to respond.“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked sounding taken aback. I. When Jim got home that evening and told his wife Diana that his boss would be coming to their house, she was less than enthusiastic. "It's not the fact of entertaining your boss, and having him for dinner," she said, "although that will be a hassle. It's the fact that he is a lecher." A lecher?" Jim asked. "Well, I don't know about that. All I do know is that he's considering me for a vice-presidency, quite a promotion in both position and salary. And it's not like I invited him over; he really. Maybe I should try my luck and walk to the 7-Eleven. The exercise would do me good. I grabbed my coat and headed to the door.My luck partially held. I won ten dollars, which went into buying myself some ice cream and a can of root beer for root beer floats. It wasn't as good as a good glass of wine, but it'd be a good private celebration nonetheless.The next two weeks went by quickly. I devoted my evenings to getting the photo album ready for Tina. I quickly realized that my text was longer.